Package construction



April 3, 1952 K. H. KELLER 2,591,703

PACKAGE CONSTRUCTION Filed April 15 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 ha rlh'. Keller.

TORNEY April 1952 K. H. KELLER 2,591,703

PACKAGE CONSTRUCTION Filed April 15, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR Kd rZ iifreller i, ..Q LfiTTORNEY Patented Apr. 8, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PACKAGE CONSTRUCTION Karl H. Keller, Gibson Island, M1,, assignor to The Miller Company, Meriden, 001111., aporporation of Connecticut Application. April, 13, 1 Se alhlm 155,745

Gillaims 1 This invention relates to PaQkageCQnstruc-H tions,;. and pertains more particularly to a shipping carton in which the use of a minimum amount .of, relatively light paperboard material, such as corrugated cardboard, may be effectively employed for packaging articles of substantial weight and size. Furthermore, it has for its purpose the provision of a package in which relative motion is substantially eliminatedbetween thearticle packaged and the enclosing carton, especially where as in the case of breakable articles it is desirable that the article be spaced from one. or more walls or ends of the carton at the interior thereof.

It has been the practice generally Where paperboard cartons are employed for shipping articles of any weight or size, or alternatively for those which because of their construction have projecting portions which are easily breakable, to employ a large number of interior packing or spacing elements or blocks, as they are sometimes called, usuallyof paperboard material similar to thatgfromwhich the carton itself is formed. The purpose of these is that of spacing or padding: the enclosed articles in order to holdthem in a desired position within the container and thus-toprevent their being tumbled about within the; container during handling of the package incident to shipping. Not only is a large amount of paperboard thus used in each package, which becomes in itself a very considerable expense factor in large quantity shipments, butv such spacers are usually die-cut to enable them torbe fitted closely around irregular surfaces of the article packaged. This die-cutting entails a further waste of material and, more importantly, because of the original and replacement cost of the necessary dies, is an expensive procedure. Added to all of this is the cost of the labor involved-in assembling the final package, so that the overall cost of packing the articles may easily resnltin a very appreciable part of the total cost oi the article to the customer. A still further difiiculty encountered in the prior practice is that of'the need for large storage facilities at the plant at which the articles are manufactured inorder to accommodate the large quantity of different sizes and specially cut spacers which may be required for the various difierentsizes, forms, etc., of articles manufactured by that-particular plant.

In packages constructed in accordance with the invention herein described, articles to be shipped are enclosed within a carton formed by folding a, strip-like carton blank of generally rectangular. shape. along. transverse. s o e 7 lines ruled. therein to provide a bottom, opposite side and overlapping top panels which latter are then secured together in suitable manner to. form an openeended tubular container, the open endsof which may then be, closed by suitable endpanels which arev inserted and secured to theendniargins of the tubular carton. Or, alternatively, the blank stripv forming the carton body may itself be provided with, end panels, adapted to fold into overlying relationship, after the tubular body of the carton is formed, to close 011 theends ofthe package. Prior to this, however, the article or articles to be packaged are first. anchored to a panel of they carton while the latter is still in the blank stage. This, an horing is accomplished bymeans of anarrow strap, such as the conventional steel strapping used for shipping purposes, which is threaded through spaced apertures in thepanel and encircles the article, the ends. of the strap being secured together while the strap is, under tension so that the article and that PQIJtiQn of the carton wall intermediate the apertureis gripped firmly by the Strap- It .is. important howeverthat the aperturing of they carton at the points Where the strap passes through, it be carried out in a particular manner and usually also that other provision be made to prevent the strap from cominginto, contact. with a raw, cut edge of the carton. Since paperboard is oi course relatively weak in shear or tearin stress and since the steel. strapping normally empl y dfor pac ag ng is-quitearrow, the carton well could be e sily torn. or. cut y the ontactof the t ppi g against a raw edge of, the paperboard The handling ofv packages, especially those of; any weight or size, during shipping, storing, etc, is notoriously rough and the packaging of, articles must therefore be designed to, withstandsuch treatment. For example, if a package shouldbe dropped on. end, there is a tendency for the. article-contained to shift e dwise- Ell n Whenthc strappin s placed under rather, hi h, nsion, some shifting of he. rticl may neverth less occur, more especially of course, where the ar ticle is quite heavy. This has-the efiect of causing the edges of the encircling strap to knife through the car-ton, wall at the edges of the apertures, unless of course the apertures are madesuiiiciently wide to accommodate any shift that could, occur. To do this, however, would expose the package to damage because edges, of the apertures would then be always catching on miscellaneous projections. Such large apertures would also greatly weaken the carton by the removal of so much material. It is highly desirable therefore that the width of the apertures be kept to a minimum which does not greatly exceed the width of the strapping itself, and hence it becomes vital to eliminate any appreciable amount of end-shift of the article. So too, the dropping of a package on its side will have a tendency to cause the strap to tear out the carton material between the apertures if the edges of the strap are allowed to bear against a raw edge of the apertures.

Briefly stated, the prevention of contact by the steel strapping against a raw edge of the carton apertures is here accomplished by a combination of two features of package construction in the preferred embodiment of the invention. The first of these is the aperturing of the carton blank to provide a pair or pairs of generally U- shaped tabs which remain hinged to the carton blank along the uncut side of each tab. The tabs are disposed intermediate the margins of the carton panel to which the article is to be secured, with the hinged lines of respectively cooperating tabs of each pair adjacent each other so that the tabs of each pair extend marginally in opposite directions in the blank. The spacing between the hinge lines of respective tabs of each pair is arranged to be substantially equal to the width of the face of the article to be placed in contact with that panel of the carton. When the opposite ends of a length of steel strapping are then inserted through the respective apertures formed by the tabs. the latter are bent inwardly out of the plane of the carton and form a smooth shoulder at each hinge line upon which the steel strapping can bear in passing through the apertures to encircle the article. Thus the shoulders and the faces of the in-tumed tabs prevent contact of the steel strapping against a raw edge of the carton where tearing of the carton between a pair of tab apertures would otherwise be likely to occur. Movement in the transverse direction by sideward sliding of the straps within the apertures, as mentioned previously, is most eifectively prevented by means of an auxiliary strapwrap located at the interior of the carton. This wrap consists of a strip of material, such as that from which the carton itself is formed, the strip being secured to the carton blank, as by gluing for example, inetrmediate the tab apertures. The strip is thus interposed between the carton blank and the article at one point, and its ends are caused to lie along the sides and top of the article so that it acts as a cushion between the article and the steel strapping. Due to the securing of the strap-wrap to the carton itself and also to the fact that the steel strapping when placed under tension causes it to form an indentation in the material of the wrap within which the strapping seats itself, there is thus provided a very substantial resistance to sideward movement of the strapping. This wrap also serves, of course, to greatly strengthen the wall of the carton intermediate the apertures to prevent tearing or rupturing of the carton between cooperating hinged tabs in each pair.

While the principles of the invention are capable of Wide application in the packaging of articles, especially those having substantial weight or size as mentioned hereinabove, it is a specific object of the invention to provide a commercially acceptable shipping package for a complete unit of fluorescent lighting fixture components, and the invention is illustrated hereinafter more particularly with this object in mind. Such units conventionally comprise a wiring channel or base having assembled therewith lamp auxiliaries such as a ballast and lamp-receiving sockets, and one or more separate, complementary shades or reflectors, usually of trough-shaped construction. Such components are commonly manufactured in lengths ranging up mil to 10 feet and weigh from around 20 pounds or less to as high as about pounds. The commercial shipping of such units has heretofore presented considerable difficulty because of the lengths and weights of the packages involved, and it has been customary to employ a plurality of spacing blocks, particularly of the die-cut type which, as mentioned, add greatly to the expense of packaging the articles. The in vention described herein affords means not only for reducing the cost of packaging such articles but results as well in the production of an assembled package of component parts possessing substantially increased resistance to damage resulting from rough treatment likely to be encountered in shipping. For purposes of illustration, therefore, a particularly practical embodiment of the inventive concept is hereinafter described by reference to a fluorescent lightfixture package shown in the following drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the assembled package ready for shipment;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the package shown in Fig. 1, the carton being sectioned to show the assembly of the components within it;

Figs. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views taken on line 3--3 and 4-5, respectively, of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2; showing features of the strapping arrangement in greater detail;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentaiy view on an enlarged scale showing details of the carton aperturing to provide the hinged tabs;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a corrugated board blank from which the carton is formed;

Fig. 8 shows the positioning of a carton blank on a packing bench for the purpose of aperturing the blank to provide the hinged tabs;

Fig. 9 is an end view taken along line 9-9 of Fig. 8; v

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary plan view from above in Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view of an apertured blank having a length of metal strapping and a strap wrapper in a stage of preliminary assembly just prior to placement of the components thereon; and

Fig. 12 is a plan view of an end blank for closing on the ends of the tubular carton to complete the package.

A unit pack 20 of fluorescent lighting fixture components in assembled condition ready for shipment is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In this instance the components are those of a typical industrial type of fluorescent lighting fixture and include a wireway or channel 2i and a separable but complementary reflector 22. In the assembled lighting fixture, reflector 22 is held against the open mouth of wireway 2| thereby closing it off, while the legs of the reflector extend outwardly and away from the wireway to provide a reflecting trough within which the lamps are disposed.

Wireway 2! is formed from relatively heavy 22a and dependent sides 22b for reflecting the light downwardly from the installed lighting fixture. 'Thegrefiector is of the-same length asthe channelxand the central back portion 22a isof the same width as the mouth of the channel so that when the reflector is assembled with the channel itrests upon lips 2 lo and thus closes off the open mouth of the channel throughout its length. "For packaging purposes, the reflector is disassembled and superimposed in an inverted position upon the channel, that is, the concave surfaces of both are directed towards each other. The components are, howeven'spaced apart to prevent actual contact between them, which would be likely to cause damage to one or both then, by an openended, centrally placed spacing tube 26 of corrugated cardboard which bears at its open ends againstthe back Zia of channel 2| and back 22a of reflector '22, respectively. Spacing tube 2% straddles the lamp ballast 23 and is thus prevented from any substantial shifting longitudi- 1 nally of the components.

The spaced components are surrounded'by a tubular carton or container 21 of corrugated board material which has been folded along appropriate score lines to provide a central bottom panel 28, upstandingopposite side panels 29 and overlapping top panels 39, Sta, these latter panels being joined along the overlapping portion tocomplete the tubular body of the container. The ,height of theside walls 29 is coordinated with the height of theyspacer so that bottom panel 28 and top panel 30 lie substantiallyalong backlla of channel 2| and back 22a of reflector 22; respectively.

Since channel 2| than the trough-like reflector 22 with which it is packed, strapping means are employed for se curing the channel to panel 23 centrally of the longitudinal axis of the completed package. This strapping takes the form of a length of conventional steel packing or binding strap 3| which encircles the channel 2! and passes through panel 28 at opposite sides of the channel to include a portion 28a of the panel within the circumference of the strap, as shown more par ticularlyin Figs. 5 and 6. The ends of this strap :are joined .interiorly of thepackage by a metal clip 32 while thestrapis under tension so that channel 2| is held firmly adjacent panel 2301": the

carton. In order to prevent the tearing or cutting of the corrugated board material of panel 28 at the points where strap 3| passes through it, vthe panel is apertured to provide a pair of oppositely extending, generally Ushaped tabs 33 which remain joined to the panel along hinge lines 33c at the mouth of the U. Hinge lines 3311.- are. designed to fall substantially along. oppo- "siteedges or shouldersile of channel2| at the back thereof so that as strap 3| passes inwardly through.theapertures 33b formed .by tabs .33 the is considerably narrower 3 .;latter are :bentinwardly sand upwardly to lie along :or adjacent the aforesaid back ,edges of the carton against tearing by strap 3|, a strapwrap 34 is interposed between the bottomof channel 2| and panel 28, the ends or the wrap extending upwardly :-and around -..the sides and flanged lips: 2 c of the channel between thechannel and the strap. Wrap '34 isgIued or otherwise vsecuredtopa-nel ,28 intermediate. the tabs 33 :and, .as best gshown in Fig.2, is substantially wider thanthe width of apertures 33b, whereby any tendencypf strap 3| to causea tearingoutpf portion 28a intermediate tabs 33 is further .resistedby the presence of the wrap. vThewrap also serves as a'padding between. the channelgand strap to prevent :marring of the surface of the channel by the steel strap. The tendency for longitudinal movement which channel 2| might have where the pack is dropped on-end is also resisted by the strapping means just described. This results from the fact that, as strap 3| is put under tension at the time of joining its ends, it causes a slight compression of the corrugated board material with which it'is'in :contact, particularly atlhinge lines 330. and the upper lips 2|c of the ;channel. This forms an indentation ,in

the corrugated board within whichthe Strapcan lie and thetendency of the channel to carrystrap 3| endwise of .the pack .is thus .;resisted by the shoulders of: the aforesaid indentations in the carton material.

Reflector 22 is braced within the package at several points along its length by means of folded rectangular strips'35 of corrugated board -:material, the ends of the strips being :scored transversely and folded'back upon themselves topro- -ride triangular blocks or fillets separated .by a flat Web portion 35a. Packing strips '35 are placed upon reflector 22 with web portion 350. lying over back 220; of the refiector'and the triangularblocks .formed by the ends of strip 35 act as fillets between the corners of the pack and sides 22b of the reflector. Shifting of packing strips 35 longitudinally of the pack canibe prevented by applying glue to'the outersurfaces of the strip at several-points previous to the closing of the upper panel 30 of carton 21. A1- ternatively the packing strips may be held in position by means of the stapling which, as presently to be described, may be employed for joining top panels 30 and 30a in assembling the completed package.

' Closure of the pack at the ends thereof is provided bymeans of end panels 36 which, as shown more particularly in Fig. "12, are provided with marginal tabs 36a, 36b, the latter being folded upwardly, at the time they are assembled into the package, along score lines*36c,

36d, toa position substantially at right angles.

to the rest of the panel. When panels 36 are then inserted into the ends of carton 2'! and secured thereto with the-marginal flanges extending --outwardly, a chime is formed at the ends of the pack which serves as a cushion for the pack against endwiseshock caused -by dropping the package on end.

In order to obtain a package of maximum strength from such material as corrugated cardboard, it is important that the direction of corrugation in the package be arranged in particular manner. In order to ensure maximum strength against crushing of the package, therefore, the corrugations of the carton blank are caused to run circumferentially of the package, or in other Words transversely of the score lines which define the various panels of the carton. For the same reason the corrugations of spacer tube 26 run axially of the tube, that is, perpendicular to backs Zia, 22a, of channel 2! and reflector 22, respectively. So also, the corrugations of the packing strip 35 run lengthwise of the strip, with the result that the triangular boxes formed at the ends thereof present maximum resistance to crushing action. In the case of strap-wrap 34, the corrugations run transversely of the long axis of the wrap. This not only facilitates bending the wrap to conform it around the sides 29 and over the upper lips 210 of channel 2i, but it also causes the corrugations of the wrap to run transversely of those in panel 28 of the carton where it is in contact with the latter. The rigidity of the material enclosed between the strap 3| and the back am of channel 2! is thus increased by this arrangement. And of greater importance still is re fact that this arrangement provides a construction in which corrugations or ribs are disposed transversely of the direction in which strap 3! encircles the channel. Since maximum crush resistance in panel 28 dictates that its corrugations run across the width of the panel, there is a substantial danger that tearing out of panel 28 between adjacent tabs 33 would otherwise occur were it not for the wrap. Naturally the wrap must be firmly secured to panel 28 closely adjacent the roots of tabs 33 to obtain the greatest effect from the wrap and gluing of the wrap to apanel has thus far proved best in practice.

Strap 31 in passing along the outside of the package between any of the pairs of cooperating apertures 33b has little tendency to cause a projection which is likely to catch on other packages or objects during handling of the pack, but it may be desirable in some instances to apply a strip of gummed tape 31 to the outer surface of the pack so as to completely cover the exposed portion of strap 35 as well as apertures 33b.

The method of assembling such a pack as that just described is conveniently accomplished in the following manner: A generally rectangular carton blank 2? such as that shown in Fig. 7 is provided with suitable score lines along which it may be folded to divide it into panels 28, 29, 3 and 30a forming the bottom, sides and top of the completed carton. Carton blank 21 is then placed upon a packing bench 40 having suitable guide means for locating bottom panel 28 in proper position with respect to tab cutting mechanism ll located below the surface of the bench. As illustrated in Fig. 8, packing bench 49 is provided with two tab cutting means, each of which cornprises a tWo-tined fork 2 adapted for vertical reciprocating motion whereby the tines may be moved from a position completely below the surface of the packing table to one in which they extend substantially above it, as illustrated in Fig. 9. In this instance, fork 42 comprises a relatively narrow steel. channel bent in the form of a U with the back 421: of the channel at the outside of the U. The upper ends of the legs of the U are sharply pointed so that when the fork is driven upward rapidly by a suitable actuating from the carton blank.

means the points of the tines pierce panel 28 and cut the cooperating pair of U-shaped tabs 33 Forks 42 also serve to introduce a length of strapping 3i into apertures 33b formed by the piercing of the carton blank. This is accomplished by inserting a pre-cut length of steel strapping 3! into the fork 42 while in its withdrawn position below packing table prior to placing carton blank 27 on the table. The length of the tines 52b of fork 42 is such that when a desired length of strap 3| is placed between the tines and pressed downwardly so as to lie flush against the back 42a of the fork, the ends of strap 3| terminate just short of the pointed ends of tines 42b. The fork is then driven upward rapidly to pierce the carton blank, and the tines act as guides for threading the strap 3| through apertures 3319 which are formed in the same motion. Furthermore, if the upward movement of fork s2 is sufiiciently rapid and especially if it is terminated suddenly by contact against a mechanical stop, the momentum imparted to the strap Si is suficient to make it spring upward out of fork 42 a short distance, as shown in Fig. 9, so that the upper ends of strap 3! may then be grasped by a packing operator and held while the fork 42 is withdrawn. Strap 3| is thus left in a position ready for the subsequent operations of the packaging process. Following the step of aperturing the blank and inserting the steel strapping, strap-wraps 34 are glued to panel 28 intermediate the tabs 33 and channel 2! is then placed on top of the carton between the upstanding legs of strap-wraps 34 and steel straps 3i. Strap-wraps 34 are folded over the upper edges of upper lips 2 lo of channel El and the ends of steel straps 3| are drawn together and secured by means of metal clips 32 while the strap is under tension. Securement of channel 2! to panel 28 is thus complete and the balance of the packing operations may then be performed. Spaced tube 26 is set over ballast 23 and reflector 22 is placed trough-down on top of tube 26. Packin strips 35 are placed on top of the reflector at several points along its length,

two such strips being here shown, and glue applied to the upper surface of each, if this is the means to be employed in preventing longitudinal shifting of these strips in the completed package. Thereafter the side walls of the carton blank are bent upwardly along the opposite sides of the assembled components and the overlapping top panels 30 and Sta are folded over the top of the reflector. In the example here shown, wire chiselpoint staples are used for securing together the overlapping portions of panel 3E) and 31m, these staples being applied at intervals of about 5 inches along the length of the package by means of a retracting-anvil type of stapler designed for inserting such staples by operations controlled completely externally of the package. The package is finally completed by insertion of end panels 26 with marginal tabs 36a, 36?), extending endwise of the carton and secured thereto by staples spaced about 3 inches apart.

Various modifications in the specific package construction are obviously possible. Thus the number of straps employed in anchoring a channel in place may be varied depending on the length and weight of the particular channel .be-

ing shipped. Even in the case of channels of ten to twelve feet in length, however, it has been found in actual practice that only three straps are required to provide a package that can meet the most rigid commercial packaging tests.

Similarly the number and positioning of the spacing tubes can be varied depending on the length and number of channels and reflectors being packaged. Alternatively, the package can consist of one or more channels alone, without reflectors, each channel being secured in the above manner to a container panel. In such case, the panels must be properly dimensioned with respect to the placement of the channels thereon so as to permit them to be folded to complete the container without causing interference between the channels interiorly of the completed package.

It is apparent also that other applications of the inventive concept readily present themselves to which the invention may be adapted for packaging a wide variety of articles in corrugated or paperboard containers where it would otherwise be totally inadequate or highly impractical if package constructions and assembly methods heretofore known were used. Thus the invention provides a simple, yet effective, means of strapping articles of considerable weight and/or size within a corrugated board container for shipment, without the necessity for complicated and expensive packaging auxiliaries such as wooden platforms or crating which latter have sometimes been resorted to in order to prevent rupture of the carton at the point of strapping. All such modifications and applications which fall within the definition of the fOllOWll'lg claims are therefore contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A shipping package for fluorescent lighting components including a wiring channel having assembled lamp auxiliaries and a separate troughlike reflector, which package comprises a spacing tube of stiff paperboard material longitudinally disposed between the concave surfaces of said channel and reflector to hold said compo nents in spaced relation; a stiif paperboard carton blank folded along score lines to provide a tubular carton surrounding said spaced components and having bottom, side and top panels, the ends of said blank being secured together in overlapping relation so as to cause a pair of opposite faces of said carton to snugly engage the backs of said components, said carton being apertured to provide a pair of opposed hinged tabs aligned transversely of the channel, the hinge lines of said tabs falling substantially along respective back edges of said channel; securing means for fastening said wiring channel to said carton including a strip-like wrap of flexible sheet material secured to the inner face of said carton intermediate said apertures and extending sub stantially around said channel transversely thereof, and a flexible binding strap encircling said Wrap and said channel and passing through the apertures provided in said carton, the ends of said flexible strap being fastened together within said package so as to place said strap under tension and cause said tabs to be hinged inwardly of said package to provide reinforced shoulders in said carton material at the hinge lines of said tabs against which said strap bears in passing through said apertures; and recessed paperboard end closures for said carton, each of said closures having outwardly directed, peripheral flanges bent at substantially right angles to the plane of the closures and secured flush with an inner, end margin of said carton.

2. A shipping package as defined in claim 1, wherein a plurality of said channel securing means are employed along the length of said channel and said carton is apertured accordingly to provide a corresponding number of pairs of hinged tabs.

3. A shipping package as defined in claim 1, wherein a plurality of spacing tubes are disposed between said channel and reflector along their extent.

4. A shipping package as defined in claim 1, wherein said lamp auxiliaries include a lamp ballast fastened to said channel, one end of said spacer tubes being placed on end over said ballast to lock said tube against shifting movement along said channel.

5. A shipping package as defined in claim 1, in which the paperboard material employed in making up said package is corrugated cardboard, the corrugations in said spacing tube being disposed axially of said tube and those of said carton being disposed transversely of said score lines.

6. A shipping package as defined in claim 4, wherein the corrugations of said strap-wrap extend transversely of the length of said wrap.

KARL H. KELLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,497,704 Walter June 17, 1924 1,662,491 Crankshaw Mar. 13, 1928 2,192,666 Roos Mar. 5, 1940 2,474,968 Beach, Jr. July 5, 1949 

